John Skevington became CEO of Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, N.H., on Feb. 1 — the same day the hospital joined Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare.
He has since prioritized strengthening the 330-bed hospital’s services and finances while maintaining its community focus and Catholic identity.
“Since starting, my focus has been twofold: getting CMC back to a position of strength, and then supporting our colleagues through the change in the organization,” Mr. Skevington told Becker’s. “CMC faced significant financial challenges prior to the acquisition, and we have needed to make a number of investments to get us back on the track to a position of strength.”
HCA Healthcare has committed more than $200 million to capital upgrades over the next decade, with $43 million immediately allocated for a new energy plant to ensure proper heating and cooling. The hospital is also undergoing $46 million in upgrades to equipment, patient care areas and public-facing spaces.
Leadership has focused on restoring essential services that were at risk prior to the transition, including obstetrics care, nursery care and cardiology.
“I’m really proud of this area and the accomplishments we’ve had in just a little bit over 10 months,” Mr. Skevington said. “We’ve been able to preserve OB and nursery services, and rebuild other services.”
Catholic Medical Center has provided cardiac care in New Hampshire for 40 years. Post-integration, the hospital has added a cardiac surgeon, recruited more cardiologists and upgraded its cardiac equipment and technology. It performs about 50 open-heart surgeries each month — the most in the state, Mr. Skevington said.
With HCA’s support, the hospital is focused on expanding emergency room services, including a new freestanding emergency room in Nashua set to open in 2026. Other priorities include rebuilding the staffing pipeline and launching a new neurosurgical service line.
Workforce support
As part of the integration, several HCA leaders joined Catholic Medical Center, including a chief nursing officer, assistant CFO and vice presidents of human resources and operations. Several legacy leaders, such as the CFO and assistant chief nursing officer, remained in place.
“It’s been fantastic to have that balance of folks who have been here, as well as experienced colleagues from within the HCA organization, and we’ve been focusing on rallying around a collective vision,” Mr. Skevington said. “That vision is sustainability for the organization to be here in the long term, and then growing the organization as well.”
He added that listening to staff and being transparent has been central to the integration process.
“Change is always difficult anytime you’re integrating into a new organization,” he said. “What my team and I have been doing is being intentional about listening, trying to explain the ‘why’ behind some of the changes that are going on. A lot of the challenges that we walked into still exist — they didn’t go away overnight.”
Catholic identity, community focus
Mr. Skevington said that staying mission-driven is essential to honoring Catholic Medical Center’s legacy while embedding HCA’s systems and culture.
“HCA Healthcare’s mission, above all else, is we’re committed to the care and improvement of human life,” he said. “That matches nicely with CMC’s mission to carry out Christ’s healing ministry by offering health, healing and hope. Those work hand-in-hand together.”
Because Catholic healthcare is central to the hospital, leadership has preserved daily Mass and prayer and continues strengthening its relationship with the Diocese of Manchester.
“I’m Catholic myself, so it’s been fulfilling personally to help lead this organization,” he said. “It’s been really important to live up to our commitment to uphold the Catholic identity, and so we are honoring the ethical and religious directives.”
HCA has also elevated the hospital’s former director of mission and Catholic identity to a vice president role to reinforce its focus. The hospital has also deepened its community involvement since the acquisition.
“We’ve been able to commit over half a million dollars to local contributions to organizations here in the community,” he said. “That’s really just the start of what we’re going to do, particularly over the next three years. Our colleagues in particular have been very active in the community, volunteering at many different organizations — we’ve had well over 900 hours of our colleagues volunteering.”
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